September 26, 2017

This Is Easily Taken Out of Context, So I Will.

Ahh! I don't want or expect a bunch of career civil servants to be loyal to Trump. I expect them to be loyal to our Constitution and to respect the electoral process, but by way of comparison, I would hope that under Obama a few troglodytes and knuckle-draggers hung around to slow the pace of change we didn't all believe in. Oh, well - let's see what he really said:

WASHINGTON (AP) — Interior Secretary Ryan Zinke said Monday that nearly one-third of employees at his department are not loyal to him and President Donald Trump, adding that he is working to change the department’s regulatory culture to be more business friendly.

Zinke, a former Navy SEAL, said he knew when he took over the 70,000-employee department in March that, “I got 30 percent of the crew that’s not loyal to the flag.”

In a speech to an oil industry group, Zinke compared Interior to a pirate ship that captures “a prized ship at sea and only the captain and the first mate row over” to finish the mission.

“We do have good people” at Interior, he said, “but the direction has to be clear and you’ve got to hold people accountable.”

Zinke’s comments echo complaints by some White House allies that a permanent, “deep state” in Washington has sabotaged Trump’s efforts to remake the government.

Zinke did not go that far, but he lamented a government culture that prizes analysis over action, saying: “There’s too many ways in the present process for someone who doesn’t want to get (a regulatory action) done to put it a holding pattern.”

What does it mean? If two-thirds of the careerists at Interior are loyal to Trump I am stunned, since that exceeds his national approval margin by a wide margin. On the other hand, if only two-thirds of the newly appointed regime are loyal, well, who is vetting these appointments?

I wonder if one of the angles that's part of the NFL dust-up is fund raising? I got an email and it occurs to me that along with legit culture war aspects this fits into the red meat for the base category.

Does Villaneuva count as Hispanic in the Holy Diversity Count if his parents are actual Spaniards?

Yes. The only ones who have the slightest question are Brazilians, since they speak Portuguese.

(I'm Italian, but through some weird circumstance, my grandfather was born in Sao Paulo, Brazil, so I've taken to calling myself Latino on employment forms. I dare them to say I'm not Latino. I may not be Hispanic, but surely I'm more Latino than Warren is Indian, goddamnit.)

Obviously the MFM will ever call her out for this but the staggering number of cold case deaths and "suicides" surrounding her and her predator husband should preclude her ever stepping in this no matter how many empty Chardonnay boxes are in her ample wake.

Porch, rather than "there is no message...it has been gamed out", the message is "we love you, Donald, but the minute you back the establishment pick over one more like the "you" we elected, and by so doing embolden your enemy Mitch McConnell and his Uniparty-R, we are outta here."

Some Trump people at JOM and elsewhere will support Trump no matter what, but others who supported Trump because he promised to drain the swamp wanted that then, and want that still.

"Washington The IRS is now sharing information with special counsel Robert Mueller about key Trump campaign officials, after the two entities clashed this summer over both the scope of the investigation into Russia´s meddling in the 2016 election and a raid on former Trump campaign chairman Paul Manafort´s home, people briefed on the matter tell CNN."

Finally the left will get Trump's tax returns, soon as the Mueller Gang figures how to leak them.

Trump is very entertaining. Trump hits home runs more than occasionally. Trump is still doing an excellent job of not being Clinton.

I would rather everyone accept Trump but I am okay with defenders and critics too.

IMO what he is up against is very big and very strong. His main weapon and defense is the appearance that at any time he can call the Kraken from the vasty deep. If you still want Trump to pull it off against the odds, you might consider contributing to that appearance.

Map showing how long states keep sexual offenders like Weiner on the national registry has some surprises. In Bible Belt GA/AL/TN/SC, it's for life. Also life in CA/NJ. Kansas only requires 5 yrs. And Texas/UT, like liberal VT/CT/IL, only 10 yrs. I have no idea what accounts for such disparity.

Well, Elmer Fudd, or whoever is today in the JOM lexicon, was spot on with Tucker. And he is 100% correct. You can speak freely but you should also respect the flag and anthem who express and define those freedoms.

I can tell you this from my limited time auditing a State Penitentiary. No one in the system thinks rehabilitation of sex offenders is even in the range of possible outcomes. Its not if an offender will repeat, its when will it happen. Lots of talk about rehabilitation in the penitentiary system, but no one believes that will happen with sex offenders...

When we moved back to GA, the church we joined had a bizarre sex offender issue. A man who'd been a pillar in the church, owner of a successful realty company, was found to have child porn on his computer. Convicted, served his time, and asked the church to accept him back under very strict conditions, which the church has done. A deacon, one of which is my husband, must accompany him wherever he goes in the building and keep him in sight at all times. He's prohibited from having any interaction with young people or being at church except for designated activities. He and his wife resumed their previous habits of Sunday morning service, choir rehearsal, handbell rehearsal, and Thursday (morning) Fun and Fellowship for senior adults. Half the church is convinced he plead guilty to save his son, the actual culprit, from prison.

Well, I just submitted another proposal to NCI. It is a good one, and it was not without its submission tribulations. It seems that the Adobe Acrobat version one uses matters, though of course there is no error message to tell you that.